You Need To Know: Farris Rookstool III

By Dave MooreFrom D CEO May-June 2009Joshua Martin

TITLE: Founder and CEO, POWERHOUSEPR Inc.

DETAILS: Rookstool is an Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, an ex-FBI analyst who helped recover the remains of 42 bodies from the Branch Davidian raid in Waco, and an authority on the JFK assassination. His PR firm specializes in crisis communications and promoting books for A-list celebrities and politicians.

WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW HIM: Because he could get your book published and help keep it from landing in the bargain pile.

Rookstool has led authors including Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Queen Noor of Jordan on book tours. During his tenure as district marketing manager at Borders, he led 550 such tours in about three years. Now he runs his own show. His Rolodex is expansive and, because of it, he promises he can deliver A-list names to boost various events and causes.

When it comes to writing books worth reading, Rookstool says many authors need a reality check. When one author told him he had written a book about the second U.S. war in Iraq, for example, Rookstool warned him that the publisher would turn the idea down. Reason: by the time the tome hit bookstores, the public would be suffering from “war fatigue.” After listening to Rookstool’s advice, the author reworked the book and refocused it on energy. That book saw the light of day.